Insights Magazine: Issue Five 2025 by Insight for Living Canada

In This Issue

Insights Magazine is published by Insight for Living Canada, the Bible-teaching ministry of Charles (Chuck) R. Swindoll. Pastor Swindoll has devoted his life to the accurate, practical teaching and application of God’s Word. He is the founding pastor of Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas, but Chuck’s listening audience extends far beyond a local church body. As a leading program in Christian broadcasting since 1979, Insight for Living airs around the world. Chuck’s leadership as president and now chancellor emeritus at Dallas Theological Seminary has helped prepare and equip a new generation of men and women for ministry. We hope this publication will instruct, inspire, and encourage you in your walk with Christ.

Wisdom is hard to define because it means much more than knowledge and goes much deeper than awareness.

How God Gives You Wisdom

by Charles R. Swindoll

I’ll never forget a lunch I had with a Christian businessman. As we discussed many of the responsibilities connected with his vocation, the subject of wisdom kept sliding into our conversation. He and I were agreeing on the value of certain qualities that cannot be learned in school—things like intuition, diligence, integrity, perception, consistency, loyalty...and he, again, mentioned wisdom. Wisdom is hard to define because it means much more than knowledge and goes much deeper than awareness.

At that point in our conversation, I sensed how convinced the man was of wisdom's importance, what a significant role it played in his life, and the way it influenced his business decisions. So I asked, “How does a person get wisdom? I realize we are to be men and women of wisdom, but few people ever talk about how it’s acquired.” His answer was quick and to the point.

“Pain.”

I paused and looked deeply into his eyes. Without knowing the specifics, I knew his oneword answer was not theoretical. He had walked the path. He and pain had gotten to know each other quite well. After listening to the things he had been dealing with in recent months—some professional and others personal—I told him he had spent sufficient hours in the crucible to have earned his Ph.D. in wisdom! I recalled the first chapter of James that the Phillips paraphrase of the New Testament renders so well.

When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives, my brothers, don’t resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends! Realize that they come to

test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance. But let the process go on until that endurance is fully developed, and you will find you have become men of mature character, men of integrity with no weak spots. (James 1:2–4, PHILLIPS)

Aren’t those great words? More importantly, they are absolutely true. By accepting life’s tests and temptations as friends—by allowing them to enter our private world and produce the rare quality of endurance—we become people “of mature character.” There is no shortcut. The idea of instant endurance is nonsense. The pain brought on by interruptions and disappointments, by loss and failure, by accidents and disease, by changes and surprises, is the long and arduous road to maturity. There is no other road.

But where does wisdom come in? It comes through the God-ordained painful surprises of life when we lean out the window and yell, “Help!” That's not my idea. The apostle James said so in verse 5:

And if, in the process, any of you does not know how to meet any particular problem he has only to ask God—who gives generously to all men without making them feel foolish or guilty—and he may be quite sure that the necessary wisdom will be given him. (1:5)

The New Living Translation is more succinct: “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you.”

As I see it, it is like a row of dominoes. One thing bumps up against another, which in turn bumps another, and during the process, endur-

ance helps us mature. Periodically, however, we will find ourselves at a loss to know what to do or how to respond—that’s when we ask for help. At those junctures, God delivers more than intelligence...much more than clever ideas and good ol’ common sense. He dips into His well of wisdom and allows us to drink from His bucket.

I cannot fully describe the benefits of receiving the refreshment our Lord provides, but among them would be abilities and insights that are of another world. Perhaps it would best be stated as tapping into “the mind of Christ.” To borrow from Paul’s words:

We do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths...for we have the mind of Christ.

(1 Corinthians 2:13, 16, NLT)

This could get mystical real fast, and I don’t want that to happen. All I want to get across is this: When we have responded as we should to life’s blows, enduring them rather than escaping them, God gives us more maturity that stays with us and new measures of wisdom which we are able to draw upon for the balance of our lives.

I don’t know where all this finds you as you read these words. But I have a sneaking suspicion that you, too, have a few intruders of pain crowding into your life—and you could use some divine reinforcement to help you endure. If so, say so. Don’t hesitate to call on God for help. Tell your Father that you are running out of strength and energy and hope...that your mind is getting foggy and you need fresh insight from the Word of God...from the mind of Christ.

He is waiting to give His wisdom to you.

Scripture quotations marked Phillips, reprinted from “The New Testament in Modern English,”

Revised Edition, translated by J. B. Phillips.

Published by HarperCollins Publishers, Ltd.

Moving from Theory to Reality

Why God Shakes Your Spiritual Tightrope

by Charles R. Swindoll

Some years have required me to have the skill of a tightrope walker to stay balanced. If you’re like me, sometimes it seems we barely keep steady on our spiritual tightrope...and then something—or someone—shakes the rope!

Believe it or not, that someone shaking our rope is God. But why does He do that?

There may be dozens of reasons why God will allow us to struggle this year, but I find at least three worth remembering. Each comes from the Apostle Paul’s pen. Paul began his second letter to the Corinthian believers by confessing who our divine rope-shaker is: “God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:3). This statement is no casual sympathy card with rhyming words and a glitzy greeting. Our mighty God comforts us as we struggle!

Regardless of the need, “He comforts us in all our troubles” (1:4). That draws the circle completely around your situation and mine. Our every affliction is God’s concern. He genuinely cares—and that care runs deep.

But why are we afflicted? Why would He shake the rope and then comfort us at the same time? Paul offers these three reasons.

Reason 1: That We Might Be Prepared to Comfort Others

Who can understand what it is like to sit alongside a loved one dying of a terminal illness? Who knows the heartache of a broken home? What about someone who understands the loss of a child...or the misery of a teenager on drugs... or the anguish of living with an alcoholic mate... or the loss of a job? Who on earth understands?

I’ll tell you who—the person who has endured those trials while wrapped in the blanket of God’s comfort. Better than anybody else, you who have actually been through each stinging experience are the choicest counsellors God can use.

This is one of the reasons we suffer—“so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us” (1:4).

Look back at the chain reaction. What goes around, comes around. We suffer...God comes alongside to comfort...others suffer...we step alongside to comfort them. With God’s arm firmly around my shoulders, I have the strength and the stability to place my arm around the

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shoulder of another. It never fails: similar experiences create mutual understanding.

Look at Paul’s words: “In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead” (2 Corinthians 1:9).

Maybe you are standing with Paul at the desperate point beyond your own strength. Hope has quietly slipped out the back door. The despair is palpable. A “quick fix” isn’t possible. Burdens push heavy on bruised inner tissue. We’re convinced that the end has come! Unbelievable as it may seem, God has a reason even in this.

Reason 2: That We Might Not Trust in Ourselves

Did you miss this truth, wedged in the middle of verse 9? Paul puts his finger on a second reason for our season of sorrow: that we might come to a complete end of ourselves and learn the power of total dependence.

Suffering reveals our creature status. We are neither all-wise nor infinite in strength. But God is both. And we need Him—we were created to need Him. Desperately.

Reason 3: That We Might Learn to Give Thanks in Everything

You’ll never be able to understand this third reason until you’ve grappled with the first two. Notice how Paul phrases this to his Corinthian friends in verse 11:

And you are helping us by praying for us. Then many people will give thanks because God has graciously answered so many prayers for our safety.

What might happen in your life if you stopped fighting God and started to praise Him for your pain?

When Paul’s own strength had ebbed away, he found another strength. When he finally hit bottom, Paul learned that he was not down in the dirt but rather in the palm of God’s hand. He could sink no lower because he was cradled in those everlasting arms.

Perhaps I am writing to a stubborn, suffering saint who is wrestling with God over an ongoing affliction. You have not yet laid down your arms and decided to trust in Him completely. Can’t you see, my friend, that God is shaking your rope for a reason? It’s His way of teaching you the all-important lesson of submission to Him—total dependence on His infinite wisdom and unbounded love.

He will not stop the shaking until you stop resisting; believe me. Who knows better than God that case-hardened independence within you? How much longer are you going to fight God?

Look at it this way: Paul wrote them a thank-you note. He considered his suffering an opportunity to share his life with others. Paul felt drawn to the Corinthians with cords tied to the innermost being. As they mutually joined in and helped him through their prayers, many people gave God thanks... including Paul himself.

God is interested in using us as living object lessons to others. That is precisely why He urges us to present ourselves as living sacrifices. What might happen in your life if you stopped fighting God and started to praise Him for your pain? Tell Him that you want to be His living object lesson of patience and stability to others...and don’t forget to thank Him for the winds of affliction that have blown across your life.

Yes, it’s God who is allowing your tightrope to shake. But it’s also God who spreads the safety net. Our struggling is not the cause of our falling...but of God raising us higher.

Copyright

Seven Ways to Cultivate Joy

by Insight for Living

Want more joy in your day? Cultivate it! Joy springs from viewing the day’s events from eternity’s perspective. With this intentional focus, you’re sure to see today differently—with more joy and conviction that God is at work in your life.

1. Rehearse with God the reasons you trust Him.

Tell Him which of His attributes is your favourite right now. Read the praises of Scripture back to Him—begin with Psalm 103. Join with another believer in prayers of thanksgiving, and delight yourself in His character.

2. Keep a “joy journal.”

Record the reasons you have to rejoice and the reminders of God’s faithfulness that you encounter in your everyday life. In addition, why not press a leaf from your prayer walks into its pages or include a photo of a person that brings you joy each time you remember him or her? Think big—expand your journal into a “joy box” or a “joy drawer” that brings floods of joy each time you open it.

3. Surround yourself with joyful people. Joy is contagious—so build relationships with friends whose lives exhibit their confidence in God. Pray for each other that your joy in Christ would continue to increase.

4. Approach life’s challenges and trials redemptively.

God doesn’t waste the difficult circumstances of your life but uses them to develop His character in you. Review Romans 5 and James 1 for help in processing pressure productively. Joy will sneak up on you when you view your hardest lessons as gifts from God.

5. Make praise and gratitude a habit.

Has God met a need? Praise Him! Have your challenges given you greater opportunities to see Him work? Thank Him! Joy flows from a grateful and responsive heart. Before you turn in at night, write down three to five blessings in your “joy journal.” Make it a habit, and watch your joyful attitude grow.

6. Fill your mind with music.

Listen to, sing, and meditate on music that draws your heart nearer to God and His Word.

7. Take the long view.

Investors advise their clients not to worry about the daily ups and downs of the stock market—what matters is the long view. Does life present incredible challenges today? Are your reserves at a low, or are you enjoying a content plateau? Regardless of today’s events, take the long view. Remember that God remains in charge of your days and will faithfully develop His character in you.

Remember, joy springs from viewing the day’s events from eternity’s perspective. Trust that God controls your life’s details (Romans 8:28), that He hears your every request (Psalm 116:1), and that His joy will be your strength (Nehemiah 8:10).

Does God Care about Our Suffering?

by Insight for Living

Agonizing in prayer over a difficult leader who was causing conflict in my church, I asked God to remove him and to protect my family and me. As senior pastor, I became the target for a few disgruntled people that this man had secretly poisoned against me. Eventually they demanded my resignation, threatening to disrupt and control the coming business meeting if I refused to comply. How could God let this happen? Why was I facing this trial while the church was growing? I fervently prayed for God to act, but His silence was deafening. I felt that He had abandoned me to my trials and left me to suffer alone.

Every Christian has experienced times when trials seem overwhelming. We naturally wonder: Where is God? Is God letting us down? Does He care? If God is good, then why is He allowing evil to triumph? These questions may lead us to ask: Is God punishing me? When God seems absent, or worse, uncaring, trials become doubly difficult to endure.

When facing the tough stuff of life, a biblical perspective makes hardship easier to endure.

Sources of Trials

Trials come from many sources. Some trials are simply the natural consequences of our

own sin. For instance, if I act selfishly in my marriage, I will likely reap a less satisfying relationship. If I am gluttonous, I will reap the physical effects of an unhealthy lifestyle. When the Holy Spirit points out personal sin, we need to agree with God that the sin is wrong and turn away from it.

Some trials are a part of God’s program of discipline for us. These are never divine punishment—Jesus took all of our punishment on the cross, leaving us none to bear. However, painful consequences also can be God’s instrument of instruction for His children whom He loves (Hebrews 12:3–11). Just as earthly parents train (discipline) their children to discern between right and wrong behaviour, so our heavenly Father also trains us, so we may share His holiness (12:10). As someone once said, “Pain plants the flag of reality in the fortress of a rebel heart.”

Some trials are direct attacks of Satan. Job experienced such attacks (Job 12) as did Paul (2 Corinthians 12:7–10), and both were considered exceptionally righteous men. In reality, we are at war with evil, and we have an enemy who wants to destroy us (1 Peter 5:8), so it stands to reason that we may boast of a few battle scars

when we reach heaven. Paul considered such suffering proof that he and Jesus were fighting on the same team (Colossians 1:14).

Other trials we experience may result from our own foolish—although not necessarily sinful—actions. Once I bought an overpriced stock in a volatile market. My decision was foolish, and I lost money because I failed to seek sound advice (Proverbs 12:15). God, in His sovereignty, has granted us a certain amount of autonomy, the freedom to act on our own. Along with that privilege, He gave us a mind and the dignity of owning the consequences of our decisions. As a result, we may become wise because of our past foolishness. That, too, is a choice we can make. Rather than bear the weight of needless guilt, we are able to turn the painful lesson of our self-imposed difficulty into a gift. Let me encourage you to use your newfound wisdom to spare someone else the same trial.

or foolishness, God’s discipline, or direct attacks of the enemy. Life in a fallen world means trials— and lots of them. Even Jesus didn’t escape the cruel caprice of a broken world.

Good News for Those in Labour

In the midst of these imperfect conditions, Paul offers encouragement. First, this period of pain is only temporary. One day soon, we will enter a glory that will make our present suffering seem insignificant in comparison (Romans 8:18).

We must resist the temptation to measure God’s love by our external circumstances.

Second, God has not left us alone in our suffering. Jesus suffered for us; we have a God who loves us with empathy. And even now, the Holy Spirit suffers along with us, groaning as He intercedes for us with the Father (8:26–27).

Each of these situations is a genuine source of our trials. But sometimes we focus on one source, ignoring Paul’s words to the believers in Rome: we experience trials simply because we live in a fallen world.

It’s

Always Something!

In Romans 8, Paul described the world as deeply marred by sin. In this fallen world, nothing—not even creation itself—is as God originally designed. Nothing will work the way it is supposed to until that day when we will be made completely like Jesus and fully revealed as God’s sons and daughters (Romans 8:19–21).

For us and for all of creation, Paul compares the pain and groaning of this present time to the suffering of a woman in labour (8:22–23). No wonder much of life can be unpleasant! And God says it will be that way regardless of our own sin

Third, God is using our imperfect condition to bring about a very perfect result: transforming us into the likeness of His Son (8:28–30). Can you imagine being like Jesus someday? A state of being beyond our imagination. One day He will return! And in a moment, we will be changed. What we desperately long for will become reality. In the meantime, God uses our current trials to prepare us for eternal intimacy with Him.

Finally, it’s essential to realize that when God allows trials in a fallen world, it doesn’t mean that He is angry with us or has stopped loving us. The opposite is true. As Paul wrote, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” (8:32, NASB1995). Indeed, we are truly co-heirs with Christ, inheriting everything that He will receive from the Father. We just can’t see it quite yet. And so Paul reminded us that in the meantime, nothing will ever separate us from the infinite, personal love that the Father has for each one of us (8:38–39). We must resist the temptation to measure God’s love by our external circumstances. Instead, our eye of faith must look

beyond our circumstances to the heart of the One who carries us through them.

Reflecting back on the episode at the church many years ago, I can see several sources that contributed to the trial:

• My own foolishness; I should have dealt with the problem when I first encountered it.

• The sin of others; this man stirred up strife in the church.

• The attack of Satan; he’ll stop at nothing to halt the growth and vitality of a church.

• Recognizing all of this, I eventually found the grace to let my frustration go and to learn from the situation.

When we face trials, we can waste our time blaming ourselves, looking for the devil behind every disappointment, wondering why God is

absent—or we can accept the biblical facts. This is the world we live in. We will suffer for a while, but a much greater time approaches. In the meantime, God loves us, groans with us, and promises to use every trial for our highest, greatest good. As I look back on my trial, I can see clearly now what I did not see then. God was with me throughout my ordeal. He was faithful to give me the grace to endure the hardship and grow as a result. Today, I am stronger, wiser, and I love Him more than ever.

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What Should I Do When I Disagree with My Pastor?

by Insight for Living Biblical Counselling Staff

Q. The pastor at my church is making policy changes at the church that I don’t think he can support biblically. I thought the church leaders would stop him, but they are going right along with his plan. A few families have left the church, and I worry that this might lead to a church split. What can I do?

A. We receive many letters from Christians who are concerned about their pastor. Essentially, they want to know whether or not they should confront him and, if so, how to confront him in a respectful and effective way.

I’ve never met anyone who enjoys confrontation. Usually, we avoid it at all costs because it is so difficult to do and can be very draining

emotionally—particularly when it involves a pastor. However, if done well, revealing a blind spot in a person’s life can actually save them from great trouble. If we truly care about someone, we’ll warn them when they have veered off the way and are heading toward disaster. The Proverbs say, “Rebuke a wise person and he will love you” (Proverbs 9:8b, NASB2020). The wise pastor appreciates people who are willing to tell him the truth.

However, we must tell the truth...in love. Confronting is not the same as criticizing. If the pastor does not feel that you truly have his best interests at heart, he will naturally become defensive. Be careful of using the truth like a

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battering ram to force the pastor to change. You don’t want the confrontation to turn into a power struggle. When that happens, the real issues get lost, and the conversation feels more like a tug of war with both sides more interested in defending their territory than working together toward the common goal of building the kingdom of God.

Seek peace and pursue it. That’s a good slogan to live by.

Let me offer a few other suggestions.

First, pray before you make any decisions. Pray for the leadership of your church. For a spirit of unity. For wisdom. Pray that your motives will be pure. As you pray, seek the guidance of Scripture. God often reveals attitudes of pride or resentment through His Word. Your goal is to be a clean vessel for the Lord to use in your pastor’s life.

Second, use “I” statements rather than “you” statements. Confrontation dissolves into accusation when we make vague statements like, “You’re teaching heresy.” Instead be specific about your concerns, avoid sweeping judgments, and talk from your personal point of view. You may say something like, “I heard you teach such-and-such. I understand the Bible differently on this point, and I wonder whether or not people in the church are getting confused. I think we need to resolve some of these issues so that we can be unified as a church and more effectively accomplish our task of building the kingdom of God.”

Third, if you’re asking the pastor to change, be willing to change yourself. Healthy confrontation can be a learning experience for you and the pastor. Be humble as you speak with your pastor, and be open to changes that you might need to consider. He will be more willing to adjust his way of thinking if he perceives a teachable spirit in you.

Fourth, sometimes separation is necessary. Sometimes disagreements can’t be resolved.

It’s not a matter of right and wrong but simply differences of opinion, and you have to agree to disagree while staying friends. Leaving a church is always painful for your family, the church, and the pastor. There’s no easy way to leave. But if you must go, make sure to leave gracefully, affirming the good things about the church and encouraging those who are staying. Leave with a clear conscience that you have done everything in your power to find a resolution. Months later, you will probably wonder, “If only I had...” Put in the extra effort now to resolve the personal conflict so that you don’t leave angry at a person. A resource on handling disagreements is Chuck’s sermon, “The Grace to Disagree...and Press On,” from The Grace Awakening series. Let these verses give you guidance in matters like this:

Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it.

(1 Peter 3:8–11, NIV)

Seek peace and pursue it. That’s a good slogan to live by.

Copyright © 2009 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved

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